Armed militias in the Sinai hijacked trucks delivering fuel from an
Egyptian port city to the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources told
Haaretz on Thursday, causing the Strip´s depleted power station to
cease functioning later Wednesday night.

The trucks were scheduled to deliver 150,000 liters of fuel destined
for Gaza´s power station, which was sent from Qatar to the Egyptian
port town of Arish.

According to Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip, however, some of
the trucks were attacked by armed militias, who then stole or burnt
them down. This ultimately led to authorities in Gaza to shut down
the Strip´s power station over a lack in fuel.

By Thursday evening, however, all 150,000 liters of fuel made it from
Qatar to power station in Gaza.

In response to the attack, Egypt sent emergency reinforcements to the
region early Thursday, geared at providing the fuel convoy with safe
passage through the desert peninsula.

As a result of Egyptian efforts, trucks began arriving at the
Egyptian side of the border with Gaza.

Hamas officials speaking to the Palestinian news agency Ma´an,
however, blamed Israel, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority for the
delay in fuel supply, saying that the shipment was being delayed at
the border.